Feb. 9 (UPI) — The U.S. military chased an oil tanker from the Caribbean Sea to the Indian Ocean and intercepted it, the Department of Defense said Monday.
The Pentagon, via the Department of War account on X, said it executed a “right-of-visit, maritime interdiction” without incident in the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command area.
It didn’t say if the military seized the Aquilla II as it has with seven other oil tankers that were linked to Venezuela.
“No other nation on planet Earth has the capability to enforce its will through any domain. By land, air, or sea, our Armed Forces will find you and deliver justice,” the post said Monday. “You will run out of fuel long before you will outrun us.”
“The Department of War will deny illicit actors and their proxies the ability to defy American power in the global maritime domain,” it said.
When the @DeptofWar says quarantine, we mean it. Nothing will stop DoW from defending our Homeland – even in oceans halfway around the world.
Overnight, U.S. military forces conducted a right-of-visit, maritime interdiction and boarding on the Aquila II without incident in the… pic.twitter.com/kYVAQC5io9— Department of War (@DeptofWar) February 9, 2026
The Aquilla II is a tanker that left Venezuela after the United States captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Jan. 3, TankerTrackers.com said.
President Donald Trump announced a “blockade” of all oil tankers traveling to and from Venezuela on Dec. 16.
“Today, I am ordering A TOTAL AND COMPLETE BLOCKADE OF SANCTIONED OIL TANKERS going into, and out of, Venezuela,” he said at the time.
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